


Late Night

by LilTabasco



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Bittersweet, Chiccolo - Freeform, F/M, Single Parents, t r y i n g, this is back when pokemon go was a thing lmao, this was for chiccolo week, trying to help their kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-28
Updated: 2016-11-28
Packaged: 2018-09-02 21:32:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8684110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilTabasco/pseuds/LilTabasco
Summary: For Chiccolo Week: TrainingChi Chi and Piccolo are both single parents trying to help out their little ones. A story of late night rendezvous





	

**Author's Note:**

> Bittersweet warning.  
> I am not kidding.

Chi Chi was outside at 2:30 am on a Monday—and for God’s sake why? The grass cold and wet, her cardigan was not thick enough, and her hair was swept into a crazy bun, piled up on top of her head. Her little slippers were soaked through as she waddled, holding her phone in front of her. The blinding light made her squint up her eyes, and she wondered how big her bags had to be at this point.  
She watched as the little avatar on the screen took long sloping steps, and she frowned. Nothing had popped up yet, but Gohan had assured her that whatever the hell it was—she really wasn’t good at this thing—was somewhere in the area.

She didn’t want to play Pokemon Go, and she sure as hell hadn’t wanted to be woken up at 2 in the morning to desperate screeching from her son that a super rare Pokemon was in the area, and that he had to have it. The only thing was, that the app had dropped, and her son’s leg was broken. He’d practically been in tears when he’d read the announcements regarding the app, and the fact that he wouldn’t be able to do anything any time soon.

So, in an act of maternal of love, Chi Chi had offered her own legs in place of his. She’d started carrying her phone with her at all times, catching random Pokemon while she was at work in the office. Gohan was too young to have his own phone, but he made full use of Chi Chi’s as long as there was something in the apartment—incense? Lures? God, she didn’t know.

And now she was out here, trying to catch some damn thing that she didn’t even know the name of. The thing was big, whatever it was, the silhouette showcasing the tiny footprints underneath it as she wandered. She was thankful as the steps dropped to two—she was getting close. It was as she was walking, that she noticed a large figure on the road as well. She frowned.

As she grew closer, she was able to discern figures. The man was large, and—green? It could have been a trick of the light, but it became increasingly apparent to Chi Chi that even through the gloom she was viewing him properly. He was gargantuan, and had his phone out, screen illuminating a surly face as he stalked around.

“Gotcha, you little bastard!” the man shouted, a wide toothy grin over taking his face as Chi Chi drew close enough to hear a familiar tune coming from his cell. Eagerly, Chi Chi glanced down to her own phone, and let loose a scream of joy as well. The large Pokemon appeared on her screen, and she eagerly tossed balls at it, not even noticing that she’d drawn the attention of the man across the way.  
They stared at each other for a long moment.

“The hell are you doing out in the middle of the night?” he suddenly barked, eying her suspiciously. She scoffed, and returned the look.

“The same could be said to you,” Chi Chi huffed bangs out of her face, and waggled her phone. “I’m catching stuff for my son.”

The man paused at that, and nodded. “Same.”

**

Every night, Chi Chi ran into the stranger, out looking for Pokemon. He explained that there was a “spawn point” somewhere near, and that’s why they were getting lucky. Plus, the walk to where he always stood allowed her to cash in on eggs, leading to an enthusiastic Gohan. As he was bedridden, he was living vicariously through her own escapades with the app. She was confused as hell, but every night, the man—Piccolo—was helping her learn.

“You mentioned you catch Pokemon for you son,” Chi Chi prompted, when they’d been meeting for almost a month. She found talking to him was actually kind of all right. She hadn’t been the most sociable person after her husband died, yet she found these late night excursions weren’t all that bad. Of course, meeting up with strange green men in the dead of night wasn’t the healthiest way to talk to people, but hell, everyone had their issues.

“What of it?” Piccolo glanced at her, face neutral in the glow of his phone. She always saw him like this, moonlight up above and LED’s shining up in his face. It didn’t give him the best features, but Chi Chi felt that he wasn’t ugly. In fact, she wondered if maybe he could be handsome—as it was, she only ever saw him in baggy, ill-fitted pajamas.

“I was just curious why he didn’t come out himself?”

Piccolo frowned. He’d mentioned the son several times before—his name was Dende, she’d learned. Piccolo had briefly mentioned in the past the species of ‘Namek’ to her, and she’d done a little bit of idle clicking through Google. It had been interesting to learn about them; she only skimmed the surface though.

“Dende is sick,” Piccolo said, and while his voice remained flat as usual, she could see a strain around his jaw. “He’s going to die.” It was a statement. Solid fact. Chi Chi felt her heart practically combust. She knew that if Gohan were dying, she couldn’t possibly be so blasé about it. “This Earth’s sun, it’s just not enough for him. He caught a really bad flu once, and ever since he just can’t recover from it.” 

Piccolo clicked at his phone, the ball sliding across the screen as it captured the Pidgey (she’d learned that one’s name, as there was quite enough of them). “He really wanted to play this game. When they announced it, he told me he wanted to live long enough to see it.”

Chi Chi felt the night’s hush curling around them.

“I’ve been out catching Pokemon, training them, and taking over gyms so that way he can have incense to draw them to the house.” He paused, rubbing at the base of his antennae.

“Shouldn’t he be at the hospital…?” Chi Chi was frowning, her own phone’s screen going dark as she regarded her companion.

Piccolo shrugged. “There’s nothing they can do. I keep him propped under a solar port all day, and all of his IVs are at home. A nurse comes and visits. It is what it is. The doctors all know what’s going to happen, so they figured—hell, why not? Why even bother keeping the kid there?”

Chi Chi twisted her fingers around her phone case.

**

“Tenth gym around town conquered,” Piccolo was grinning as she approached, and she returned it. His smile was beginning to grow infectious. Gohan’s leg had long since healed, but Chi Chi still chose the late nights to come stand beside Piccolo. It was like being in another world, standing in the tall grass with their phones out, chattering about nonsense—and talking about Pokemon, a thing neither of them understood very well.

“Wow, I bet a lot of ten year olds know your name, huh?” Chi Chi smirked, and he flipped her the bird, before returning to his game. There wasn’t really anything out that night, but she still had fun. She felt a bit giddy and ridiculous—she was a grown ass woman, a grown ass widow, at that, outside playing Pokemon with a veritable stranger in the middle of the night.

“I’ll have you know, I went to the park, and there were at least two sixteen year olds.”

“Impressive, impressive,” she faked a golf clap on her phone’s case, snickering as she flopped down on the wet grass. “Ugh—all this walking each night is going to give me blisters.”

Piccolo stood for a moment, and she was pleasantly surprised when he dropped his own large frame onto the grass at her side. She could feel the grass soaking through her pajamas, and she knew he was suffering the same fate, though she was probably a bit more wet—coming out in shorts hadn’t been her best decision.

It seemed her companion noticed, as Piccolo shrugged off the light purple jacket he always wore, and tossed it to her. “There. Anyways, how far do you live from here?” Piccolo tilted his head, antennae dangling as he looked at her. “You come here every night, don’t you?”

Chi Chi flushed, and tucked the jacket underneath her butt. She didn’t want to admit that she lived about a mile down the road. It seemed like a long way to walk to meet a complete stranger each night. 

“Oh, in the area,” she said vaguely, waving in the direction of her house.

Piccolo grunted, and dropped his head in his hands, elbow resting on his knee. “I live in town,” he said randomly, scratching at his temple. “In the Belladonna area.”

Chi Chi balked. “What the—,” She stared at him as if he’d sprouted three heads. “That’s the—that’s the fanciest place in town! You guys have freaking mansions!” She remembered herself after her outburst, cheeks tinting as she could see Piccolo’s eyebrow arching.

“I guess,” he muttered. “They are rather big houses.” A shrug quickly followed.

“So—you can’t walk here every night!” Chi Chi said. “No way.”

“You know, you’re a genius,” Piccolo sneered, but she could see that his lips were quirked upwards. She decided to take no offense, and shoved her tongue out at him. “And no, I don’t walk here. I park my car a couple of miles up the road by the woods.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?”

“Hi kettle.”

“I’m stronger than I look,” Chi Chi argued, puffing up with pride. “My father was a martial artist, and I was trained my whole life.”

“Cute. I grew up as an alien, and learned how to throw punches.” Piccolo shifted, tapping his chin. She’d only ever seen him in the dark, so whatever he was pointing at was lost to her. “That’s where all of these scars come from. I may live in Belladonna now, but life’s hell when you’re a mean green kid.”

“One of those things is your own fault,” she pointed out, earning her a chuckle. It was getting late, later than normal as they sat there, pinpricks blinking steadily up above them. She didn’t want to move from how comfortable this all was, but she knew that the time was coming where she wouldn’t have a choice. Piccolo soon stood, and looked away from her as he proffered a hand. She rose to her feet, pulling the jacket up with her.

She offered it to him, but he wrinkled his nose up.

“Keep it. It’s all wet and gross.”

“Fine. I’ll return it tomorrow, okay?” Chi Chi waggled her phone. “I’m hatching eggs like crazy, y’know?”

Piccolo smirked, and nodded. “Just don’t use a disgusting detergent. I don’t want my jacket smelling like garbage.”

“What do you think I wash my stuff with—tuna salad?”

“Anything’s possible with you, woman.”

**

The next day Chi Chi walked down to their meeting point, and she had Piccolo’s jacket on. The wind was a bit nippy, but she enjoyed it. She’d wisely wore pants this time, just in case they sat down once more. She couldn’t dirty up the jacket two nights in a row.

Though, as she approached, she was surprised that Piccolo’s easily identifiable form wasn’t present. Frowning, she decided to stand and wait, catching a few Rattatas in the meantime, silently cursing their frequency. They weren’t even all that cute as far as she was concerned.

She went home with her bag full and a newly hatched egg.

She went back the next night with similar results, and then the next night.

All of them ended the same—without Piccolo.

The fourth night she didn’t go, and she sat on the couch, devoting her first Pokemon-free night in a while to playing Monopoly with Gohan. He asked her where she’d gotten the new jacket, and she hadn’t really known what to say. All she could think was that she was rather sad that she’d washed it that first night, as now it just smelled like Apple-Mango Twist.

The fifth day she woke up, and Gohan was solemnely dressing himself, straightening out his slacks and shirt. Chi Chi stood in the doorway, large purple jacket hanging on her frame as she sleepily rubbed at her eyes.

“What’s the occasion?” she asked. Sure, Gohan wasn’t a slob, but he typically didn’t dress so nice for just school.

Gohan sighed, and attempted to flatten out his spikey hair. “Well, this kid that used to go to our school passed away. He’s apparently been sick all year, and they’re holding a ceremony for him at school. We’re supposed to dress up for the assembly.”

Chi Chi frowned, and furrowed her brow. “What was his name, do you know…?” she felt an odd sensation.

“Oh, they said his name was Dende Daimao,” Gohan replied, and scooped up his backpack. “It’s real sad, huh, mom?” He was headed towards the door, obviously waiting for Chi Chi to join him. She felt a bit light headed as she slipped on some shoes, and strode out to her car. They drove in silence, as Gohan seemed to have some weird sense that told him whenever Chi Chi was not feeling up to it. He stared out the window, leaving her to stew in her own thoughts.

She pulled up to the school, where she could see other children being dropped off. In front, stood the principal, and a large green man in strange, purple clothes, and a white scarf wrapped tight around his neck. A dark blue vest hung on his shoulders, and his jaw was clenched tight. As Gohan exited the car, he came around, pressing a cheek to his mom as he said his good-byes.

It was then that the man glanced to the side, eyes meeting Chi Chi’s. She felt as if the floor had dropped out from beneath her as he kept his face carefully neutral. Even now, there was no emotion on that face, even though tension practically radiated from him.

She suddenly wished she was dressed a bit nicer, or somehow knew the man a little better. But instead she sat in her car, bun a loose mess as it hung about her shoulders, still in his jacket. She tightened her grip on the steering wheel, and watched as he gave her an almost imperceptible nod. Then he was turning, disappearing into the school.

Chi Chi pulled out of the school’s parking lot, and headed home. There was no more training, and therefore no reason to see him again.


End file.
